D-SUB controller hack wiring help (SOLVED... SORTA)

[jholman76]

Ok, so I modded a controller for my CP and I have connected everything to a 25 pin DSUB connector (male).

Now whever I connect a female D-SUB to it, left and button one are pressed... what the heck? I have tried a couple different cables and they do the same thing.  I double checked all cabling and they all match perfectly.

Unless I am mistaken, there shouldnt be any connections made, right? if I unplug the female cable, it goes back to no buttons pressed. I can run a wire and test the buttons individually, and it works fine. Any ideas? I dont really want to have to re-solder the whole ting, but I dont think the problem is with the controller or male D-SUB or buttons.

I am using a standard Parallel cable I hacked the heads off of... is there anything special about them I should know?

[SteveJ34]

What is the female end of the d-sub connected to?

If you have ruled out the specific left joy and button one micro switches themselves it would seem you have some short in the female d-sub side.

[jholman76]

Thats the funny thing, I have 2 female cables.

One that is spliced and connected to a terminal block and then to some test buttons. When I connect it, it will show button1 and left pressed instantly.

the second cable, is just a 25 pin serial (M to F) cable.  it is not plugged in to anything at all. just a plain cable hanging there. when I plug it into the male D-SUB, it does the same thing. Weird I know... I'm not sure what to try next.. I'm thinking about de-soldering the male D-SUB and connecting them directly to the buttons to see if it works then.

I just cant figure out where the short is.. I double checked everything twice and it all should be good.

I'm just about to re-solder the damn thing with an independent ground for each button.... arrrgh

is there anything with the outside metal casing around the contact area that might cause it to short?

[jholman76]

I think I figured it out... although its a lame solution (lame controller, not lame fix)

It seems the ground for Down and button 1 and a couple others are so sensitive that I can set the button off by just pressing it with my finger. I'm not sure why it happens or if it just has multiple voltages that set off the buttons, but a couple important ones are set off by the DSUB's connection. dumb I know. 

can I get someone to concur that this is possible?

The up side is that the controller still will work, I just cant use a DSUB to connect it.. I guess Logitech hates neatness... HELLO WIRING NEST! heh...

 

now I just have a medium sized project box with a DSUB connection drilled out the side... I'll have to think of something else to do with it...